"Not bad, but you are still very weak to use it."

Lumina said, staring at Leon as he held the Moonblade for the very first time.

Leon was trying to mimic Miss Lumina's Sword Art [Hosigami Style], which she performed to evaporate an entire mountain.

The result was as he was expecting…

"...it didn't work, huh."

Leon had done exactly as Miss Lumina. He used the Moonblade to absorb a huge amount of mana and channel it towards his heart by following the same path she did.

Leon said, glancing at her,

"I can feel the mana gathering inside me, but I can't seem to throw it out of my body all at once like you did."

"Heh," Lumina grinned slightly, "you think it was that easy? Look, I know it looked easy to you, but believe me, it's far from it."

"Miss Lumina, can you tell me what I am doing wrong?" Leon looked desperate, couldn't hold it in, and just blurted out, "Is there some trick to it?"

Lumina stared at him, narrowing her eyes, "You saw how the mana moved from the Moonblade to my heart, right?"

Leon nodded. "Yeah. I was even able to memorise what arteries and what nerves the mana flowed through to reach your heart, and then how it reacted to your mana core, and how you managed to keep the mana core from shattering."

"..."

Lumina gasped, "You understood all that with just one look? That's… beyond what I had imagined. You must have expert-level knowledge about Spellcrafting and Formulation."

"Ah, yes. It's not anything impressive; it's because of a skill of mine called Mana Sense, which allows me to see all the mana particles floating around. I think you have some idea how it works."

As Leon explained, Miss Lumina carefully studied him, wielding the Moonblade.

His posture was great, and he was even letting the mana flow through the same path as hers.

It was perfect, but…

What he was doing wrong was…

"You are scared, aren't you?" Lumina asked Leon warmly.

"What?"

Leon didn't understand.

'What does she mean? I am scared?'

He was not scared. Why would he be?

"Then why are you not allowing the mana to shatter your mana core?"

"Ah.."

Now he understood.

When Lumina employed this technique, the unstable mana drawn from the Moonblade clashed with her mana core, which was on the verge of shattering. Just before that happened, the core generated an equal amount of force to oppose the unstable mana. Lumina used this opposing force to expel the excess mana from her body, resulting in a destruction on the scale of an atomic bomb.

Leon was doing the same thing, but he was doing it in a way that didn't load his core.

Leon was simply being cautious.

What would happen if something went wrong and his mana core really shattered?

Leon didn't want that.

"Nothing will go wrong, I am here," Lumina assured him, "also, have some faith in your knowledge."

Lumina thought that Leon had expert-level knowledge about Magic and Mana, and how they coexist inside a living being.

She was right to some extent.

That was the reason why Leon was not forcing it.

Leon knew very well the consequences of a mana core shattering.

"That is easier said than done," he thought, sighing deeply.

"Haaah…"

His breath lingered in the frosty air, a thin veil of mist fogging before his lips.

He tightened his grip on the Moonblade, feeling its cold pulse in his palm.

"Alright. I will try once again."

He needed this technique. No, he had to master it. There was no other way forward if he missed this chance.

"One step at a time," Leon muttered, turning slightly away from Miss Lumina.

His golden eyes fixed on a massive boulder resting several strides ahead, a monolith of stone half-buried in the snow. That would be his target.

His goal was simple: blast that damn rock to pieces.

"Hooooo…"

A cold fog poured out as he exhaled, steadying his breathing. His mind cleared, sharpened into focus on the massive boulder.

Leon lifted the Moonblade high into the air, its clear white surface gleaming with a faint reflection of the clear sky.

Leon pulsed his mana into the blade. At once, it began to glow with a bluish-white radiance. The hilt vibrated violently, rattling against his grip, as though resisting the surge of energy being forced into it.

Ching—!

A clear note rang as the Moonblade resonated.

It began pulling in mana from its surroundings, as if drinking the mana itself.

Ice mana was gathered; it condensed the chilling ice molecules around it, forming into a swirling icy-wind tornado.

It was the ice element that Leon trusted most after Light affinity.

Billions of particles converged on him, each drawn in by the Moonblade..

Leon gulped.

'This is much bigger than the last one…'

He returned his gaze to the boulder, forcing himself not to falter.

'Alright. Gather as much as the Moonblade can take.'

This time, he placed no limit on the gathering. He would not hold back.

The sword vibrated in his grip, absorbing more and more until his own body began to tremble with the pressure.

Mana pulsed inside him like wildfire. It was raw, unstable, and endless. The current rushed along the precise path he had memorised, threading through his arteries and nerves until it reached his heart, where his crimson mana core pulsed like a living heartbeat.

Leon focused on it. He could see it clearly, as if the world inside his body had been laid bare before him.

The unstable mana surged into the core, rattling its surface.

Badump—!

His chest lurched. The core responded violently to the flood of power.

'So far, so good…'

Leon thought, his eyes narrowing. His concentration deepened until the world outside blurred even more into silence.

'No. More. I need more. This is not enough.'

He pulled again, allowing the Moonblade to force even greater torrents into him.

His body screamed in protest. Veins bulged along his arms, and his tissues tore beneath the skin, leaving trails of blood leaking from the cracks.

But Leon did not stop.

He had already come this far. And to hesitate now was meaningless.

"Keuuk!"

A raw cough escaped his throat as blood spattered from his lips onto the snow.

"Leon! Release it now!" Lumina's voice rang out; it was sharp and panicking.

But Leon ignored her. His hands tightened on the blade until his knuckles went white.

"This is not enough! This is not how much she absorbed!"

He drove even more mana into his core. The Moonblade acknowledged him, its glow flaring brighter, brighter, until the blue-white light swallowed his frame entirely. His muscles tore with a sickening strain, but his nerves had gone beyond pain.

"Leon!" Lumina shouted again, but her words did not reach him.

'Just a bit more,' he thought, his lips curling into an amusing grin.

And then—

Crack!

The cracking sound echoed faintly, as though his chest itself had split.

Lumina froze. Her crimson eyes widened in horror.

But Leon only grinned wider.

"I… I did it."

His mana core was shattering.

He could feel the fractures spreading through it.

And he knew what came next. The unstable mana would be forced to meet the equal and opposite resistance of his core, unleashing destruction unlike anything else.

Crack!

Another break rang out inside his chest. The pressure swelled until it felt like his entire body would burst apart.

"Let us see…" Leon whispered, his tone calm.

He raised the Moonblade high.

"Hoshigami Style."

He exhaled. Then his arm fell in a single arc of silver and light.

"Heaven's Judgment."

As Leon's words echoed across the landscape, light surged.

From the Moonblade, a white light descended; it was cold, but something far sharper. It was like an icy air, condensed into a single strip of blade, like an icy whip.

The moment Leon's arc cut through the world, silence followed after.

Weeeeeeeeee—eeeeeeeee—!

A whistle rang out as if the very heavens were being sliced apart.

The mana-laced wisp slash roared forward, tearing through the snowfield.

Lumina's eyes widened at once.

"What the—" she muttered.

The attack was not aimed at the boulder.

It was coming straight for her.

Leon missed!

But she did not panic. Not even for a breath.

Her crimson gaze narrowed, and her hand drew out a shabby, worn blade. The same blade that once belonged to Leon.

With a single movement, she cut through the rushing mana.

SHiiiiiikkkkk—!!!

The slash vanished.

"What the hell…?" Leon muttered in disbelief.

His chest still ached, and his body was bleeding, but his eyes were locked on her.

"I… I messed up?"

It should have been perfect.

The flow of mana, the precision of the path, the way it gathered, clashed, and released.

Everything had aligned. And he was certain his accuracy was flawless. Yet instead of striking the stone, the slash had moved, directed at her.

Lumina lowered her blade.

"Haaaan…" she sighed, her tone calm.

She looked at Leon directly.

"I do not understand. Do you like me, or do you hate me?"

"Wha—" Leon said something, but Lumina's gaze silenced him.

"Leon. Practice more before even thinking of using Hoshigami Style again. You did great, but remember you need to work on controlling even the output and not just the blade. And until you prove you can control it, I forbid you to use it."

Leon's mouth opened to speak, but he stopped.

Lumina said.

"You can do it, okay. I can picture you creating something far superior, than what I created."

Leon's gaze lowered.

Then he nodded.

"Mhm, I will do as you say."

Lumina smiled. "Good, alright, let's go now; Alice is waiting. We're leaving right away."

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